Archive for June 9th, 2011

Remote control cars are great for having fun. They can be driven off-road, taken off jumps, and raced among other things. VEX robots are great for learning. They can be used to teach programming, math, problem solving, and other engineering skills. What do you get if you put them together??

Well, I can tell you. You get a rugged 4WD truck that is still tons of fun to drive around outside, but can also be used as a teaching tool.

Follow this link for more photos: http://s1081.photobucket.com/albums/j353/comeste10/VEX%20Rover%20Extras/

I started off with a MINDS-i Lunar Rover kit which is driven by a 7.2V DC motor and steered with a standard hobby servo. I removed the solar panel from the Rover and in its place put a VEX Cortex microcontroller and an LCD screen. On each side, I attached a VEX flashlight from the VEXplorer kit and I mounted an ultrasonic sensor to the front. It just so happens that VEX bolts and nuts fit quite easily into the beams of the MINDS-i rover.

I did all the programming in RobotC. See bottom of the page to view my RobotC code.

In order to control the stock motor and servo with the Cortex, I had to make a few modifications. I soldered the two wires to a 2-pin head which I then connected to the Cortex with a VEX motor controller.

For the servo, I used three single male-to-male jumper cables.

The video demonstrates the rover in autonomous mode where it makes use of the ultrasonic sensor to avoid bumping into walls. Remote control is also demonstrated using the VEXnet controller over Wi-Fi.

This is just a small sampling of the possibilities with this combination type of platform. Don’t let my initial direction limit you. It would be great to see some new combination robots. Get out there and start building!